Athiest: Explain this, would you?

Question

If all matter has always existed in some form and the gasses that fuel our sun which provides us the means for existance, and fuels all of the stars in existance AND assuming that the majority of atheist believe that existance has no beginning and that time is absolute then how is it that the gases have not been used up entirely?

also, In space, things also get old. Astronomers refer to the aging process as heat death. If the cosmos is "everything that ever was or is or ever will be," as Dr. Carl Sagan is so fond of saying, nothing could be added to it to improve its order or repair it. Even a universe that expands and collapses and expands again forever would die because it would lose light and heat each time it expanded and rebounded. Explain that to me?

K Thanks!

Answer 1

matter hasn't always existed and most atheists don't think "that existance has no beginning", these statements are not supported by the Big Bang theory

Answer 2

According to current Inflation theory matter and energy were formed after the big bang as the direct result of the rapid inflation. Inflation produces gravitational potential energy which is negative and likely exactly balances the positive mass/energy produced.

So your assumption that matter always existed is false it actually formed very shortly after the big bang event.

I suspect that the local universe we observe is just an infinitesimal portion of reality as a whole. The reason for apparent order ( what we mathematicians call Kolmogorov complexity ) is likely the selection effect of our existence. Regions without such order would not permit our evolution. Complexity derives from selection operating on variance.

Personally I do not think matter/energy/space/time are fundamental. The material we observe is mathematically isomorphic to the mathematical laws describing their behavior. Perhaps what exists fundamentally is mot matter but the mathematical laws. The reason we observe the mathematical laws we do then is that only such laws permit our evolution and existence. Why does mathematics exist then? Maybe existence is simply logical necessity. Existence consists of those truths ( mathematics ) which are logically necessary.

Answer 3

Stars burn gases as fuel, and create other gases in the process. Hydrogen burning leads to helium, boron, oxygen, all the way down to iron. When these stars explode, they enrich the neighborhood with these elements, and other, more metal-rich stars, form in their place. So the gases don't all get used up - just turned into other things. And it hasn't been too long - the vast majority of the universe is still hydrogen.

Yes, the universe as we understand it will eventually run down. Eventually, the matter will be too far apart to make any more stars. Asimov did a decent job of explaning it in one of his short stories, you can find it online. It's called something like 'the last question'.

Answer 4

Try the sci.physics NewsGroup. But briefly (from a lay person):
1. We may be getting there - it's called the cold death.
2. "Expands and collapses and expands again forever" is not at all proven, and the hypothesis is by no means universally supported. Did'ya pick this question knowing that?
Your "existance has no beginning" bit is bunk - the BB was the beginning, although what went on "before" that is unknown.

Answer 5

For starters, not all atheists think that matter has always been in existence. There are multiple theories,

Matter was always here (as you suggest)
The Universe began with time (a finite time ago)
Every possibility of every Universe occurs simultaneously...so there would be no need to even explain it.
And other theories like string theory which I dare not even begin...


And as for "gases" being "used up", they are not. Gases may be "used up" but generally they produce energy and by productts of other matter. All matter can be rearranged into any form of matter or energy. But no matter or energy can be destroyed.

That is to say, suppose a sample of gas had 1G-particles (Giga-particles 1,000,000,000 particles) of mattter.. It may lose 20% of these particles in matter by product through a different form of matter - but through another process it can be converted back into the same gas. The other 80% may be converted into energy. But as the famous equation E=mc^2 goes. Mass and Energy balance in an equation. You raise energy by raising mass, and vice versa. But no one can just randomly lose outputs or numbers...it is a two variable equation. Therefore if matter isn't the same form of matter it could be another and still be able to go back. And even if that form goes into energy, it is still theoretically possible that it could be converted back into matter.

As for the second part-light and heat should be explained. First, heat requires matter to travel. Without matter (which is effected by gravity) energy causing heat can not travel. So heat energy is linked with the fate of matter, and will condense back in with gravity - breaking down into pure energy (if the big crunch is the case) with all other matter only to reform matter again.

The second (light) is the only part of your question that has had trouble being explained. First of all, light appears to have no immediate effect on matter. It doesn't seem to have mass, yet it must have some sort of physical existence. Since light is effected by gravity and appears to have weight that can move "solar sails" you would think that light takes substance away from the universe. The only explanation that would help, is that light would need to be sucked in by gravity. Unfortunately, light is usually only bent. It is possible that a black hole would conjure up enough gravitational pull to suck light in from a far (given a large amount of time), but who knows. There is so much we don't know about light and the universe.

Answer 6

Gases aren't 'used up' by stars. Stars use fusion (mainly of hydrogen) to produce energy, and in doing so they also produce heavier elements. Everything heavier than lithium was made in a star. And it's entirely possible that the universe will die eventually, the fact that it exists now doesn't contradict that at all.

Answer 7

E=mc2 means that matter and energy are different forms of the same thing. It didn't have to exist as matter. And Hawking would have something to say about not being able to add or subtract from the Universe. That is a pretty hot topic in physics right now.

Answer 8

Okay, sure, let me run right out and get that degree in physics. Wait right here for the next few years, will you?
Scientists are constantly learning about the universe. As they receive new info, they update theories and even occasionally change their minds.
If you are really interested in this and not just trying to get in a dig for creationists, check out a few astronomy and physics sites. They will be able to give you a lot more info than you will get here.

Answer 9

[each thing works at the same time so completely like our organs youd imagine each thing had to be created.] it truly is termed "survival of the fittest." in case your organs did not artwork at the same time completely, you'd be undeserving and would not live on. [i have self assurance the tremendous bang yet i have self assurance GOD made it ensue.] the latest non-non secular foundation for the tremendous Bang (that's, by ability of ways, a misnomer) includes us from Membrane idea, the successor to thread idea. in accordance to M-idea, we've diverse parallel dimensions and the tremendous Bang ought to were called "the tremendous Bump." M-idea says our universe is the outcome of a collision between 2 dimensions that were given a touch close and ended up liberating a lot of power. adequate to create the universe we are able to work out. M-idea also says that at the same time as our universe wasn't eternal, the multi-verse IS eternal. Time for our universe all started on the tremendous Bang yet time ordinarily replaced into operating basically superb in the multi-verse. and obviously, in case you want to assert God is eternal, we are able to assert that the multi-verse is eternal.

Answer 10

Sounds like you've explained it to yourself. And what does this have to do with Religion and Spirituality?

Explain how a single being could create an entire universe with atoms, molecules, tachyons, suns, planets, cosmic radiation, turtles, carrots, bugs, gravity, light, trees, water, neutrons, plant and animal cells, comets, DNA, and gas giants. The universe makes a lot more sense without god.